Pirates of the Caribbean: Overcoming Complications
by ta1nt3d1uv
Summary: Post Dead Man's Chest. Complications have risen and everybody has their own goals and motives, but what exactly will happen when Barbossa tries to find Jack, and can Will handle the fact that Elizabeth kissed Jack? By Rach and Jen.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Jen and I do not own Disney, therefore do not own Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest or Curse of the Black Pearl. We do not own Captain Jack Sparrow either, although we both wish we did. If we did, there would be no movie, and no use in fan fiction. Enjoy.

**NOTE- This is after Dead Man's Chest! Spoilers will be in here!**

_**Pirates of the Caribbean: Overcoming Complications**_

_**Chapter One**_

"Miss Rae, I think there be somethin' ye be wantin' a look at..." a rugged pirate awoke his captain.

"Wh...huh...hm?"

"A wreckage...lots of blood...and a body."

"What?" Rae jumped out of bed, "check if there are any survivors and find out what happened!"

"Well, ye see, there's just the one...uh...body. Jacob is trying to revive the man."

Rae and her subordinate walked out on deck, where a few pirates stood around an unconscious man. He was bloodied and covered in a thick layer of what appeared to be slime. A younger pirate, Jacob, knelt by the man.

"Carly!" Rae shouted. The men moved aside for her to step forward and speak to the other female pirate on board.

Carly stood with her hands on her hips, looking down at the man. "Aye?"

"Clean 'im up, see if he has any injuries or infections. Also, find out his name and whatever else you can about the wreckage."

"Of course he's got injuries, where do ye think all the blood came from?"

"Just do as I say."

"And how am I to find out his name? He's unconscious."

"Carly," Rae warned.

Carly rolled her eyes and helped Jacob carry the man below deck.

--

Elizabeth and Will sat in silence on the ship that would ultimately lead them to Jack. Jack was the reason for their silence.

Elizabeth felt guilty for many reasons and on multiple levels and Will was angry. Neither knew the other's emotions or motive, and neither wanted to speak, so the silence continued.

---

Jacob helped Carly remove the unconscious man's shirt and vest with difficulty. The slime was thick and acting like glue, making the shirt and vest stick to the man's body. Carly looked over his various scars from previous battles, a little shocked. She cleaned the slime and blood off of the man with a cloth and then examined his many wounds. They were quite small, as if he'd been stabbed by many needles.

"He's probably got wounds like these on his legs as well. Guess we should take his pants off."

"Carly!" Jacob scolded her. She laughed and began to clean his wounds.

The man stirred, "Licky, licky..."

Carly jumped back from the man, who still had some slime in his hair. "What?"

He opened his eyes, "Are they gone?"

"Is who gone, sir?" Jacob asked.

"The bloody cannibals…" he looked down at his bare chest, and then he looked up and saw Carly kneeling beside him. "What're you doing? Where am I?"

"The Contentious. My ship," Rae spoke, climbing down from above deck.

The man just gave them a blank stare.

"We found you in a wreckage." Jacob clarified.

"The Pearl..." he said, nearly in a whisper.

"What's your name?" Carly asked.

"Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Unfortunately Mr. Sparrow, you are no longer Captain. Your ship is gone." Carly informed him.

"Where do ye keep the rum, young missy?" Jack asked Carly.

"You shall get _no_ rum until we know what happened here." Rae spoke.

"You can't deprive a man of rum, Rae, he's been through enough from the looks of it." Carly said.

"I'm not depriving, I'm simply withholding. What happened?" she asked him.

"You're askin' the wrong pirate, miss..." Jack paused.

"Rae. _Captain_ Rae."

"Aye, Cap'n Rae."

"Do ye not know what happened to you and your ship?" Jacob questioned.

"I do not..." he got a thoughtful look, "What is it that keys do?"

Rae looked at Carly, confused. "Get him somethin' to drink, eh."

--

"He's not here."

"Ye be tellin' me that Jack Sparrow got away? The Kraken got him!"

"Eh...the Kraken seems to be no more..."

"Jack Sparrow killed the Kraken? That's not possible."

"Not exactly...he more...cut his way out."

"Damn ye, Jack Sparrow."

--

Jack and Carly sat together, drinking their rum and getting to know each other.

"Well dear, you know my name, but I have yet to learn yours."

"Carly. I've heard of you, Captain Sparrow. So has Rae, but as long as she's on _her_ ship, she has a superiority complex."

"Carly," he took a swig of rum, "how long have ye been a pirate?"

"Long enough."

"Aye, mystery woman." He watched Carly gracefully take a massive gulp of rum. "It seems to me that you've seen me without my shirt, but I have yet to see y – "

"You may be able to woo other girls simply with your rugged, hero-like qualities and battle scars, but you'll have to try a bit harder than that with me. I hardly know you."

"You know me. You know me, I know you, no one's a stranger here and since I see you've taken a liking to me I thought perhaps we should get to know each other _better. _You clean my wounds, I clean yours, we're square." He smiled romantically at her.

"I haven't got any wounds."

"Well I wouldn't know that now would I? I hardly know you."

"Are you contradicting yourself on purpose or have you completely lost your mind?"

"A little of both, darling."

--

"Barbossa...why would you agree to save the man who killed you?" Will questioned.

"Aye lad, it sounds as if ye don't trust me."

"You wanted me dead."

"True, I did. I wanted my freedom, which now I have, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"The return of your beloved Sparrow. But he's not, is he?"

"What?"

"Beloved. You don't seem to have a liking for him. I see that, it's in your eyes."

Will looked away in shame and fury.

"_That_ look. That's it. Every time his name is mentioned or...when Miss Swann is around."

Will hated it, but Barbossa was the only one who understood--understood his betrayal.

--

"I do believe this is the _perfect_ bargaining chip," Beckett smiled at the ex-commodore.

"Perfect to put an end to piracy."

"More than that, James. With this, England shall control trade and market throughout the entire world. Therefore we shall be the most powerful country to have ever been, and I shall be the richest man alive."

"Does this mean I can have my job back?"

"Something along those lines...but first, you must help me find someone..."

--

"Barbossa..." Elizabeth burst into his cabin.

"_Captain_, missy. Have a little respect."

"_Captain,_" she mocked, "I think we have trouble..."

"What?"

"There are white sails on the horizon."

* * *

**Author's Note**- I hope you like this, I truly did enjoy writing this. This is Rachel, by the way. You have Jen to thank for much of the Carly-ness, as well as some of Jack's stuff. Reviews would be nice, but I've decided not to beg for them. This shall be continued soon. I'm very excited and I can't wait for DMC to come out on DVD (November 1st, my birthday is the 4th). :-) Rachel 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** We still don't own Jack or anyone...except Carly, Rae and Jacob. They're ours.

_Pirates of the Caribbean: Overcoming Complications_

_Chapter Two_

-----

"Load the cannons, we have company," Barbossa ordered.

Will did as he was told, as did the rest of the crew. Nobody liked taking orders from Barbossa, but they all knew it was necessary in order to find Jack. But unlike the others, Will didn't want to find Jack. He wanted to find Davy Jones.

-----

"James...what is that?" Lord Beckett asked the ex-commador.

"What is _what_ exactly?" Norrington asked, and Beckett pointed towards a ship in the distance, "That? That's a ship."

"Look closer."

Norrington gave him a quizzical look, "Why? Just tell me."

"No wonder you're no longer commodore. It's a pirate ship...of course you _were_ correct too."

"How can you tell?" he was getting annoyed.

"I looked closer," Beckett handed the scope to Norrington.

-----

Jack and Carly's drunken laughs could be heard down the length of the deck. Scattered around them were several empty rum bottles, some of them broken from being dropped on the deck.

"Sometimes ye need some female company during those…long…cold…lonely nights at sea," Jack spoke.

"Is that so?" Carly smiled at him.

"Mmm. Rum is the _key _you know," Jack said wisely to Carly. "Rum…unlocks things. Much like the chest," He slurred.

"The chest?" Carly asked, having a hard time following anything he said.

"Aye…" he nodded slowly, glancing down at Carly's chest. He began to lean in as if he were going to kiss her.

"Carly!" Rae made her presence known.

"I can honestly inform you, Miss Rae, that I did not do it. It must've been Jacob again, the boy's always getting himself into trouble," Carly defended herself.

"Captain."

"_Captain._" Carly added sarcastically.

"I do believe you have work to do."

"I'm doing what you asked. I'm getting him something to drink."

Rae scowled at Carly, "Aye, as you've been doing for a few hours now I think it's time for ye to be doin' yer job. I'll be takin' Mr. Sparrow 'ere."

"Aye, sir!" Carly yelled and saluted Rae. She got to her feet and stumbled shamelessly down the deck as Rae walked off with Jack.

"Jacob, my love!" Carly said, approaching Jacob and putting her arm around his neck.

Jacob nervously cleared his throat. "Yes, Miss Carly?"

"I do believe you have work to do." Carly listed the jobs she had been given, knowing that he would do anything she asked.

Jacob began to walk away, his cheeks slightly flushed. "I think she likes me," he thought aloud.

----

Barbossa had been waiting to get Beckett's ship in range before firing, "I think it's time, mates."

"FIRE!" Gibbs shouted at the rest of the crew.

A few minutes after they had been firing, the other ship was in flames.

Elizabeth wondered if they had hit anything that might explode.

---

"Row faster, before the ship explodes!" Beckett barked.

"I'm rowing as fast as I can! It would help if you tried," Norrington was getting more than annoyed by Beckett.

"I don't _do that_."

"Well, if you'd like to catch the other ship before they head off to England, you bloody well shall try!"

----

"Jack Sparrow is alive and he has my heart!" Davy Jones was more than angry, he was furious.

"He sure is a determined man," Bootstrap Bill spoke.

"You...you helped him! You and your _son_."

"Leave him out of this."

"Unfortunately I can do no such thing_. They'll both have to pay."_

----

Beckett and Norrington were tired of the paddling. They could see the port in the distance, and that the other ship hadn't left yet.

"We can't stop now!" Norrington broke the silence as Beckett set down his paddles.

"Yes we can. Or as least _I_ can."

"Pansy," Norrington channeled all his annoyances into getting to shore.

-----

Rae and Jack sat in the Captain's cabin. She had given him a tour of the ship, and at first he had been a bit rowdy but as time had gone on the rum had taken a more drowsy effect on him.

Jack muttered incoherently, "Why's the rum gone..."

"Jack, would you like me to show you to your sleeping quarters?"

Jack looked up, "Elizabeth...not good."


	3. Chapter 3

**Overcoming Complications**

_Chapter 3_

_---------_

"Elizabeth?"

"Eh...well..."

Rae gave Jack a questioning look, "Hm?"

"She...is the reason my ship, the beloved Pearl, is now gone."

She knew there was something more that Jack wasn't telling her. "I see."

"Do ye now?"

"Yes, yes I do."

The two sat awkwardly for a moment until Rae got up and walked away.

--

Governor Weatherby Swann sat behind bars on a Royal Navy ship, awaiting his return to England before his punishment could be carried out for assisting in his daughter's escape.

"Is this necessary?" he motioned towards the bars.

"It's protocol," said a Royal Navy Officer.

"Sit, I believe we have a change in course," a man entered.

"Why?" The officer asked.

"Lord Cutler Beckett has returned and requests a change in course."

"What happened to _his_ ship?"

Beckett entered. "Bloody pirates."

--

"Well, there was a beastie, by the name of the Kraken. Maybe ye've heard of it, no?" he looked around at most of Rae's crew that had gathered around him. He was gladly sharing his newly, yet vaguely, remembered tale with them. "So there I was, chained to me own ship and left with naught but a sword. Now, when placed in a life or death situation, it is important for one to be resourceful."

"What did ye do, Mr. Sparrow?" one of the men asked.

Jack looked around at the men staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at him, hanging on to his every word. He loved it. "I did just that, mate – I was resourceful. Hacking up a massive amount of mucus from my throat and spitting it into my hand, I was able to lubricate my wrist enough to free it from the iron with as little pain as possible."

"What happened then?" another man asked, amazed at the captain's story.

"I held onto my sword and looked the Kraken straight in the eye – er, mouth, – smelling its hot, putrid breath as it began to swallow me whole and drag me down to the watery depths from whence it came."

--

Rae walked out on deck and saw someone with a mop in the distance. Assuming it was Carly still doing her chores, she decided to give her a break. She walked up to Carly to apologize for giving her such a hard time.

"You're not Carly," Rae said after seeing Jacob.

"No, I'm not, Captain." He spoke, nervously.

"What are you doing!"

"Well, Miss Carly wasn't feeling that well so I told her I would – "

"Jacob, don't lie to me."

"Miss Carly asked me to do a few things." He blurted out.

"Dammit Carly!" Rae sighed.

--

"Elizabeth..." Will walked up to Elizabeth who was leaning over the railing, looking out at sea.

"Yes?" she forced herself to look up at him, although only for a moment.

He watched as she looked back out at sea, her eyes filled with grief and pain. _Grief for Jack,_ Will thought. Little did he know that the pain Elizabeth felt was for her betrayal of them both.

--

"CARLY!"

Carly jumped – or rather, fell – out of her hammock.

"Why did you have Jacob do what I told _you_ to do?"

"I didn't want to do it. Besides, he likes it. It makes him feel important."

"You're walking on a thin line 'ere, Miss Carly."

--

"You're walking on a thin line," Carly mocked, looking through the bars that kept her in a damp, dank corner, with Jacob, although she wasn't aware of his presence yet.

"Hello, Miss Carly," he blushed, catching her attention.

"Jacob, what're you down here for? Did you leave that bucket out on the deck again for Rae to step in?"

"No, and uh…I beg your pardon, Miss Carly, but it was you who left the bucket out for Captain Rae to step in last time."

"Well she deserves it, locking you down here for nothing. You didn't do anything wrong,"

"Not according to her. She says I need to learn my lesson for," he paused, unsure for a moment whether to go on or not, "for, uh, listening to you all the time."

Carly sighed and sat next to him. She pulled a flask out and took a sip. "Want a drink?" she asked, offering him the flask.

--

"What do you want?" Elizabeth looked at Will, who stood less than two feet away from her.

"Pardon?"

"You came over here for something, did you not?" she didn't like him looking at her like this.

"I just..." Will didn't know if he could tell her what he had seen.

Elizabeth looked at him expectantly, "Well?"

"I...can't wait for you to meet my father."

She forced a smile. She was happy for Will having found his father, but she felt as if there were more pressing matters--like Jack's return.

"I thought we were done with this...that we'd be married by now!" Elizabeth gripped the railing.

_Jack has to ruin everything,_ Will thought.

"Don't get me wrong, I want Jack back...but we never should have gotten involved with this," Elizabeth ranted.

Will thought over her choice of words, nodding. _She wants Jack back..._ "I wish we were married now too," he avoided the subject of Jack. He couldn't be angry with Elizabeth. Or at least, he didn't want to be. He really couldn't help but feel angry with her. "Elizabeth I..."

She interrupted him, "Shh..."

"What?"

"Shh!" she looked out into the distance expectantly.

--

"'Ello, Miss Rae. Mind if I juss call ye Rae? Not that ye have much of a say in the matter." Jack smiled at the captain.

"I figured as much."

"So where we heading?"

"I'm not quite sure," Rae's eyes met his briefly, "May I see your compass?"

His eyes got wide, "Why?"

"I just...I've heard the rumors, and I want to see if they're true."

Intrigued, Jack handed her the compass. She opened it and it pointed directly at Jack. She hurried to close it, but not before a sly grin appeared on Jack's face indicating that he saw.

After Rae handed it back to Jack, he turned around and opened it himself. It pointed in the direction he was now facing--out at the open water.

**Author's Note** - Hmm...Was it pointing at that for her too?


	4. Chapter 4

**Overcoming Complications – Chapter 4**

Rae pulled the keys from a drawer in her cabin and went below deck to let Carly and Jacob out of their confinement. The sound of jingling keys woke Carly, who had fallen asleep with her head resting on Jacob's shoulder. She quickly got to her feet and walked over to the door of the cell, awaiting Rae's arrival. It wasn't until Rae opened the cell door that Jacob awoke, hearing the loud creaking of the door.

"Yer free to do as ye like now," Rae said to them. "Within reason," she added quickly, seeing the look in Carly's eye. She knew that allowing Carly to do what she liked would definitely not end well.

---

"She's amazing…" Jacob said to himself as he stood on deck admiring Carly from afar.

"Who's amazing?" Jack asked, walking up behind him.

"Mr. Sparrow," Jacob jumped at the sound of his voice, a little flustered. "No one," he stammered. He then returned his eyes to Carly.

Jack followed Jacob's gaze down the length of the deck until he saw the person he had become so fixated with. "Ahh…so you're in love…with a girl…" he said, resting his hand on Jacob's shoulder as if he were about to give some meaningful advice.

"Miss Carly," Jacob blushed. "I mean, no. In _love_," he laughed nervously, "what nonsense. I couldn't possibly…"

"You know, it is my experience that when dealing with the mysterious and ever so complicated creature known as the female, it is somewhat beneficial and more often than not, _necessary _to be shall we say…bold and to the point."

"Mr. Sparrow?" the young man questioned, confused.

"Admiring said creatures from afar does not lift a woman's skirt, mate. Savvy?"

Jacob thought about this for a moment and then nodded once in understanding. "Right."

"Good lad." Jack said, patting him on the back. Both men suddenly stopped upon noticing Carly checking herself and adjusting her cleavage. They tilted their heads to the side simultaneously and observed her interesting behavior.

---

Will walked up on deck. He couldn't bear to be in such a crammed space with Elizabeth, and he was constantly trying to avoid the subject of Jack, which was impossible. He saw Gibbs and a sullen Mr. Cotton standing beside each other on deck and approached them.

"Mr. Turner," Gibbs greeted him. "Have ye seen Mr. Cotton's parrot as of late?"

"Come to think of it, I have not,"

"Bird's been missin' for ne'r a day."

"I'll keep an eye out for him."

---

"…And then she fell asleep on my shoulder," Jacob sighed.

"Is that so," Jack ignored Jacob while he described the privilege of being locked in the brig with Carly.

"AWK! Wind in the sails! AWK!" Mr. Cotton's parrot swooped down and perched itself on Jack's shoulder.

"They're coming upon us!" Jack said excitedly.

"Who is, Mr. Sparrow?"

"Me crew."

---

"Miss Swann," Barbossa smiled at her as she approached.

"Barbossa. Planning something, are we?" she asked. She hated that smile.

"I'm not the tricky one 'ere love. That'd be you."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It's a bit out of character for Jack to have stayed behind, don't ye think?"

"He wanted to save us. He knew it was the only way the crew could escape unharmed."

"The Sparrow I knew would've left ye all to die without ever thinking twice."

"Mutiny can change a man," Elizabeth replied casually, giving him an evil glare.

"So can a lass."

"What are you implying?"

"I think you know."

"What? That I persuaded him to stay behind? That I had something to do with it? I did what was best for everyone!"

"I wonder, do ye really think so? Or are ye juss tryin' to convince yerself?"

Elizabeth couldn't take it anymore. She went to find Will. She knew she had to tell him what had happened.

---

Jacob walked up to Carly, who stood by the edge of the ship looking out to sea. She shook her hair out in the sexiest way he could imagine and smiled at him when he approached.

"Hello Jacob."

"Miss Carly," he smiled. "I've been wanting to tell you…"

"Shh," she put her finger to his lips. "Don't speak. I've always known how you feel about me,"

"You have?"

"I told you, don't speak."

"Miss Carly…"

"Damn it Jacob! Stop talking!"

"I'm sorry – " he apologized, just as Carly grabbed his face and kissed him…

"Jacob." Carly said, interrupting Jacob's daydream. He looked down and saw her on her knees before him, scrubbing the deck. "Jacob, you need to move, dear."

"Oh…sorry…Miss Carly…" He stepped aside for her and walked down the deck, thinking about his daydream.

---

"Captain Rae. What is it ye want most in the world?"

"No," she replied blankly.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I will not be tellin' ye my hopes and dreams. Savvy?"

"There's no need to be embarrassed, love," Jack tried to persuade her. Rae glared at him and walked away, leaving him standing alone. He opened his compass and watched it point to a ship in the distance. "Aye…this calls for rum." He smirked.

---

**Author's Note-** Well, I hope you like this. Reviews would be appreciated. If you like Rae and/or Carly, they're also in The Unwanted Past (but have different histories). Feel free to check that out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Overcoming Complications **

_Chapter 5_

The two ships were almost right next to each other when Barbossa ordered his crew to fire on the Contentious. Rae ordered her crew to fire their cannons in response. Jack heard the cannons from below deck and ducked when a shot came hurtling through the side of the ship past him. He slowly lowered his hands from over his head and looked around expectantly for more cannonballs.

"Not good…" He drew his sword and hurried above deck to see most of his crew battling several of Rae's men. "Stop! No!" He waved his arms around frantically, but no one seemed to notice. One pirate in particular caught his eye. "Will!"

Will wheeled around and turned his sword on Jack when he heard his voice. "Jack Sparrow, I can honestly say I'm glad to see you."

Jack smiled and then winced when Will swung his sword at him suddenly. "Stop…stop!" Jack shouted, alternating between yelling at Will and yelling at the other pirates. Jack's crew began to follow his orders once they noticed him, but Will did not. Some of the pirates, including Jacob and Carly, had gathered around to watch the dispute.

"What's going on?" Jacob wondered aloud.

"Jack? Will! Stop it!" Elizabeth yelled at them, but they paid no attention.

"Evidently, the whelp wants to kill Captain Sparrow." Carly answered Jacob. "I think it's a love triangle," she added, noticing Elizabeth.

"A love triangle?"

"Yes. Apparently they're fighting over that little whore right there," she pointed to Elizabeth.

"Who do you say's going to win the girl?"

"Definitely not the whelp, just look at him. My money's on Jack."

"No, I'd say the whelp. He seems quite angry."

"Stop it! Both of you!" Elizabeth screamed at them and jumped in front of Will with her arms out to protect him. Her eyes softened when she looked at Jack. She looked as if she would've loved nothing more than to jump into his arms and hug him. Will remembered when she'd given _him _that same look not too long ago. His eyes flickered with envy and hatred.

----

"There is really no need for hostility," Rae said.

"_Pirates_." Barbossa responded.

"We are no threat to ye. We like Mr. Sparrow and have no urge to harm his crew. Ye can take him, if that's what ye want," Rae spoke sternly.

"Are you proposing a trade? Sparrow in exchange for yer life?"

"You aren't going to kill me anyway. But Jack Sparrow is not a prisoner 'ere."

"Captain. _Captain_ Jack Sparrow, Miss Rae." Jack entered the cabin where the two had been unsuccessfully negotiating.

----

"Where are we going? Where is my daughter?" Governor Swann asked.

"Commodore Norrington says she is with Mr. Sparrow in _more _ways than one," Beckett replied.

The governor was shocked and looked as if he would faint.

"What do you know about Davy Jones?"

"Nothing more than a legend, hardly our concern in a time like this I should think. My daughter, wandering about the seas with a pirate…"

"Davy Jones is real. Your daughter is the least of my worries. Soon I'll have control of Jones, as well as the seas."

----

Jack left the cabin, leaving Rae and Barbossa to bicker. Elizabeth promptly approached him.

"Jack, I'm so sorry,"

"For what, love?"

"For…leaving you to die." She moved closer to him and looked up into his eyes. "I thought it was the only way,"

He looked down at her face for a moment, and then he stepped back, remembering. "You kissed me," he said under his breath.

Rae exited her cabin, looking a bit frustrated. "Jack! You decide who you will go with."

"Not fighting over me, were you?" Jack asked, flattered.

Barbossa laughed. Jack narrowed his eyes, slightly insulted.

"It's your choice," Rae said. "Ye can stay here, or go with them."

He considered Elizabeth and Will before deciding. "I'll be staying aboard the Contentious," he answered finally.

Elizabeth looked hurt, and Will became even more sullen when he saw this.

"One thing ye might be interested in knowing, mate," said Barbossa.

"Oh no. You're not cursed again, are you?"

"It's about Jones."

--

Davy Jones walked up and down his deck, making sure everybody was doing their work.

"He's ne'er."

---

"The nearest land is less than a day away. It's an island that I frequent by the name of Corcova," Rae told an unsure Jack.

"I'm staying with you," Elizabeth said to him.

"Don't you and Mr. Turner have a wedding to get to?"

"Not until this is over," Will said, "Not until I save my father."

"You don't stand a chance against Jones without the heart which Norrington has."

"Well then," Carly interrupted. "Who wants some rum?"

----

**Author's Note-** Sorry this is short and sorry it took awhile. Jen and I are starting school next week (me Tuesday her Wednesday) and we'll keep updating and such--it just might take awhile. I've already started on the outline for the next chapter though, so no need to worry. It won't be too long before there's another update. And if it is, email me and tell me to update. Reviews also motivate us to write more. xRachx


	6. Chapter 6

**Overcoming Complications**

_**Chapter Six**_

"Welcome to Corcova, Jack," Rae said, leading him and the others towards the center of town.

"Home sweet home, love." He looked around in search for the nearest pub.

"I'm sure ye'll be wantin' a drink or two, so I'll show you and yer friends to The Drowsy Parrot."

"Aye," Captain Jack grinned.

----

Rae entered the tavern with the rest of the lot following closely behind. Jack and Carly made a beeline for the bar, while Rae, Jacob, and Cotton found a booth. This left Will and Elizabeth standing uncomfortably together by the doorway. They smiled awkwardly at each other and glanced around at the tavern, desperate to find an escape from one another. Just as Will opened his mouth to say something, a rugged man with dark hair entered, bumping into Elizabeth.

"Pardonnez-moi, mademoiselle." He apologized and touched Elizabeth's shoulder before making his way over to the bar for a drink. He had barely taken a swig of his rum when a girl immediately to his right caught his eye.

Carly noticed the rugged man watching her and shifted herself a bit closer to Jack. "You know, the annoying thing about pirate ports is that the men assume every woman there is a whore open for business."

Jack stopped mid-gulp and looked as if this had taken him by surprise. "Oh, yes, terribly annoying."

Carly narrowed her eyes at him accusingly. "Are you saying I look like a whore?"

"I would _never,_" he retorted, sounding deeply insulted.

Carly raised her hand to slap him as he flinched and drew back instinctively, but she was interrupted. Jack sighed relief and downed some rum.

"Excuse me, Miss…"

She turned to the man with the French accent. He had dark hair and deep green eyes, and he was quite tan – but she wasn't _that _impressed.

"Miss…?" he repeated.

"Oh, you were expecting me to tell ye my name. Truthfully, I didn't realize that my name mattered that much, because I'm not a whore, and you'll do well to keep that in mind, and even if I were a whore – which I'm not – I'm fairly certain that you would not be able to afford me, even if you are rather…tall, dark, and handsome."

He laughed, much to Carly's surprise, and smirked at her. "I'm Shea."

Overhearing the name, Jack looked over at once to see who she was talking to. "Shea Leblanc."

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Shea said, displeased. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Aye," Jack agreed while putting his arm around Carly. "I see ye've met dear Carly,"

"And I take it you know her as well,"

"I know her _very _well, Leblanc."

Jacob had been watching them intently, keeping a close eye on Carly, but mostly watching Sparrow and Leblanc like a hawk. He wasn't pleased at all that Jack had his arm around Carly, and his blood began to boil once the rum set in.

"Bon ben, mademoiselle. It was a pleasure, although you haven't the best taste in company," the French man said to Carly. With that he kissed her hand, causing her to blush.

Jacob was outraged. He stood and marched straight over to the man before Rae could do or say anything to stop him. He grabbed Shea by the collar, not intimidated one bit by the fact that he was neither as tall nor as strong as Shea was.

"Jacob!" Carly yelled. She leapt from her seat when Jacob grabbed a hold of Shea and tried to pull him off of the man. As a result, Jacob, who was wobbly from the rum, fell backwards on top of Carly. Jack half-heartedly reached forward to try to catch one of them, but the two landed on a nearby table, causing it to flip over onto its side, which spilled quite a bit of rum and angered more than a few drunken pirates. In effect, a full-blown bar fight erupted.

Jack smashed his empty rum bottle over Shea's head and observed the ensuing bar fight. "Time to go."

----

"Jack, you can't come with us. I'd much rather _not _lose my life to Jones, and I'm sure the rest of the crew agrees," Rae said to him, standing on the deck of the Contentious.

"Are you certain?"

"Entirely."

"It's not that bad," Jack smirked. Rae simply glared at him. "Then I'm afraid ye leave me no choice, Miss Rae."

----

"How was I to know the entire crew would side with him?" asked Rae to no one in particular, leaning against the cold metal bars beneath the deck of her own ship.

"He's the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. That may've tipped you off!" Carly scowled at Rae. Jacob looked out the oh-so familiar bars, still fuming from the brawl back at The Drowsy Parrot.

"Well pardon me for assuming the crew would rather live than doom themselves to Davy Jones!" Rae spat.

There was a moment of silence before Carly spoke again. "So Captain Rae, how does it feel to be locked up on your own ship?" she asked sweetly. Rae glowered at her.

"Rather embarrassing I should think," said a man with a French accent.

----

"Sir, we're approaching the Flying Dutchman," a young man told Beckett.

"Ah, thank you." A grin appeared on his face as he approached Governor Swann's cell.

"I don't suppose you were planning on letting me out any time soon?" the governor asked when he heard the keys.

"On one condition. You must go to the Flying Dutchman and inform Davy Jones that I wish to negotiate with him."

Governor Swann's eyes grew wide.

----

"Was it really necessary to lock up Captain Rae and the other two?" Will asked Jack.

"Unless ye want to be joinin' them, you'll speak no more of it." The captain replied curtly and went to the helm.

----

Jacob watched bitterly as the French man skillfully picked the lock. "And what are we to do once we're out? You're mad if you think the crew won't overpower us again."

"We play along, pretend to want him as Captain," Rae said.

"Not quite what I was thinking," Leblanc said with a smile, releasing the prisoners.

----

Governor Swann was panting when he finally made it aboard the Flying Dutchman. Never before had he been required to exert so much energy.

"Who are you?" a man with a starfish suctioned to his face approached the governor, keeping his voice low so as not to draw any unwanted attention.

"G-gover-governor Weather-b-by Swa-ann," he stuttered with fear.

"Swann…" the man whispered to himself. "William Turner," he introduced himself.

The governor nearly fainted, especially when a man with a squid-like face came upon the pair. He assumed this to be Davy Jones.

"Who's your _guest?_" Jones asked, seeming intrigued.

Governor Swann quickly replied without pausing for a breath, "Sir-Beckett-of-the-East-India-Trading-Company-sent-me-to-inform-you-he-has-a-proposition-for-you!"

----

**Author's Note-** If any of you watch the TV show Supernatural (on Thursdays at 9 on CW), I'm going to be putting up a Supernatural fic here in the next day or two. I've already got the first few chapters done. I promise that it will be updated regularly. Anyway, thanks. Winter break will be here for me in a week and a half, not sure about when Jen's is coming, but during that time I should be getting a computer and we'll definately have some updates. Also, The Unwanted Past should be done pretty soon--one chapter left. I realized when I was reading back through this that the end seems a bit choppy/rushed. But anyway, let us know what you think. Thanks. -Rachel.


	7. Chapter 7

**Overcoming Complications**

_**Chapter Seven**_

"You want to what?"

"Summon Davy Jones and give him Jack," Leblanc repeated himself. "That would solve all of our problems."

"I heard you the first time," Rae scolded him.

"Then why did you ask?"

"Shock and dismay. I wasn't expecting a reply." Rae's eyes wandered and her face became contemplative.

Leblanc gave Carly a questioning look.

"She's thinking. The odd look is because she's in pain. I've told her she ought to practice thinking more often, but she refuses to listen," Carly said casually, folding her arms. Leblanc glanced at her with a slight smirk about his mouth.

"I have an idea," announced Rae at last. "Instead, we threaten to call Jones, and therefore Jack will hand over the ship and we can drop him off at the next port."

"Fine, _bien_," Leblanc agreed, perhaps a little too quickly. Jacob had his suspicions.

-----

"Who are _you_? Making a proposition for me?" Jones spat.

"Lord Beckett of the East India Trading Company." He reached his hand out to shake that of Davy Jones, but pulled his hand back after realizing that Jones didn't have _hands,_ per say, to shake.

"What makes you think I won't have you killed?" Jones chuckled, amused at Beckett's audacity.

"I have something you may want."

"And what might that be?"

-----

_Tia Dalma remembered the runes that she'd used when Jack came to her earlier. When she'd given the dirt to him, she'd known it wouldn't be enough to save him. But there was another way, and she knew that now. His gift, the monkey, was the way to it... All she had to do was prepare for the consequences..._

-----

"If Norrington has the heart with the intention of giving it to Beckett, then we shall just have to take it back from him," Jack said with utmost confidence.

"How do ye reckon we do that, Cap'n?" Gibbs asked.

Jack had no sooner pulled out his compass than he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Mr. Sparrow," spoke Shea.

Jack shut his compass at once and spun around to face the French man. "You. What're you doing on my ship?"

"My ship," Rae corrected him.

Jack turned to her and held up his index finger as if to signify a very important point. "I'm borrowing it."

"Unless you want to pay Jones another visit, settle old debts and whatnot, I suggest you return it," Leblanc said to him, giving Rae and Carly a striking look.

Jack cringed. "Oh."

------

Will approached a sullen-looking Elizabeth leaning against the side of the ship. "What is it?" he asked.

"Beg your pardon?" Elizabeth looked up.

"You've got Jack back, and you're still unhappy."

"I don't know."

"You don't?" he asked. He was disappointed that she was so unwilling to be open with him on the subject.

"Oh for goodness' sake, Will, I'm not the only one here who's unhappy. Ever since I…"

Will raised an eyebrow. "Ever since you what?"

Elizabeth continued. "I chained him to the ship. The Kraken was after him, not us, and I knew the only chance we had would be to get away while it took down the ship with Jack chained to it. Jack would've never stayed behind if he'd had a choice in the matter…you haven't even looked at me since that day."

"Well seeing my fiancée kiss another man couldn't have anything to do with it," Will replied grudgingly before he could think better of it.

Elizabeth looked down. She couldn't deny that she had kissed Jack, but she also couldn't deny that she had almost enjoyed it. "I'm sorry…it was just a distraction,"

"A distraction?"

"How else would I have been able to chain him to the ship? You don't think I took pleasure in kissing a pirate with absolutely no sense of personal hygiene, do you?"

"Did you?"

"No!" Elizabeth looked away from him and gripped the side of the ship with her hands. To her surprise, Will stood beside her and put his hand on hers. He could never stay mad at her.

----

Jack sat against the wall, contemplating how he would get out of his current situation. One of Rae's men stood guard over him. "You look like a fine gentleman. Do ye think someone could bring me some rum?" he asked, flashing his sweetest gold-toothed smile. The guard didn't even acknowledge that Jack had spoken to him. "I'll take that as a maybe," Jack moped.

Shea came down the stairs and dismissed the guard. "I truly enjoy seeing you locked up."

"Are you coming on to me?" Jack raised his eyebrow.

"_Non_. But that young man on board, Jacob, you should look out for him when you're bent over scrubbing the deck."

Jack ignored his comment and stood up behind the bars. "Is there a reason why you decided to grace me with your presence or are you just here to tell me about mayonnaise and how you want to _couchez avec moi_?"

"You really ought to spend more time on land with women and a little less at sea with men."

"And you should learn to find your own women instead of stealing one that already has a man." Jack glared at him through the bars.

Shea laughed, which only made Jack's jaw clench and his hands tighten their grip on the bars.

"You ever think it wasn't me that caused your little _rendezvous_ to end? Think about that," Shea smiled, looking over the bars. "You'll have plenty of time for that now."

---

**Author's Note-** Sorry it took awhile. Unwanted Past is done if you'd like to read it. Also, my Supernatural story is done and I'm gonna be doing some Dark Angel stuff. It may be awhile before anything new is up, but Jen and I will try to get a new chapter of this and/or Reality Check up in like a week or two. Thanks for reading. Leave a review please.


	8. Chapter 8

**Overcoming Complications**

Chapter Eight 

Jack stared at the bars in front of him with disgust. He'd really come to hate being locked up, as it had become a regular thing lately. He couldn't help but think that it had something to do with Elizabeth. If she hadn't passed out while talking to Commodore Norrington and almost drowned during his first voyage to Port Royal, then he never would've had to save her and Norrington's men never would've caught him in the blacksmith's shop and locked him up. Had it not also been for Elizabeth giving Barbossa Mr. Turner's name instead of her own, he never would've had to help Will rescue Elizabeth from the cursed pirates, and he would never have been locked up on the Black Pearl while there were holes being blown in his ship. And it was dear Lizzie who had chained him to his own ship, which caused him to be swallowed by the Kraken, which led to him escaping from said terrible beastie, which set him up to be rescued by Rae and her crew aboard the Contentious, which had landed him here, locked up in this very cell. He frowned and rested his forehead against the bars.

-----

"I say they'll be sendin' the Kraken after us anytime now," the one-eyed pirate, Ragetti, was saying to Pintel.

"Well I say Jack killed it."

"That's what it wants ye to think!"

"How else could he 'av escaped? He killed it, that's how!" Pintel growled.

"We didn't kill it with the barrels of gunpowder an' all, how could Jack have killed it by hisself?"

"I don't know how he did it, but he did it!"

"It's waitin fer us, waitin to seek its revenge on Jack, waitin to drag us all down to the watery depths beneath us!"

"Stop that," Carly scolded them, overhearing their argument.

"It's true!" Ragetti spat.

"So there's a little Kraken swimming around somewhere with some scratches and a few missing teeth, if anything it will come for Sparrow, perhaps, but not for us," she corrected him before hearing Leblanc's voice behind her.

" 'Little' isn't exactly the word I would use to describe it. The Kraken is massive, with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth that could shred you to bits, and tentacles at least six times as thick as these masts that could crush this ship and swallow it whole, along with the entire crew – including you."

Ragetti and Pintel shuddered at the memory, but Carly looked skeptical – and a bit nervous, Shea could see. Carly narrowed her eyes at the three men for a moment and then went to the side of the ship. She leaned forward against the railing and couldn't resist scanning the horizon for tentacles or squid-shaped creatures.

Leblanc came up behind her and put his hands on the railing on either side of her. "What's the matter?" he asked her. "Did we scare you?"

"No," she answered him defiantly and turned to face him, a little taken aback at how close he was to her.

He kept his hands on the railing and smiled. "I think you're scared."

"I think not."

"_Non? _Perhaps you're just foolish then."

"Well thank you for that, I deeply appreciate your perspective, from the bottom of my heart. Now if you'd move your arm, I have work to do."

Instead of moving, he ignored her and looked out to sea as if he'd seen something out of the ordinary. "What was _that?" _

"What was what?" She turned her head quickly and looked towards the sea.

"I thought I saw something in the water," he fooled with her.

"Where?"

"Over there…don't worry, it was probably nothing."

"What did it look like? Was it big? Was it near the ship?"

"Yes, I think so." He tried desperately to keep a straight face as he watched her looking over the side of the ship, and then he laughed.

Carly stopped and turned back around to face him, glaring at him. "Think you're funny, do you?"

"_Un peu_."

"Ugh…" she grunted as if he had annoyed her.

"_Pourquoi est-ce que tu es fâchée à moi? Est-ce que c'est parce que je suis un homme qui tu aimes, et c'est difficile pour toi d'être tendre? Tu peux avoir confiance à moi, mademoiselle, je ne suis pas méchant."_

Carly watched his lips as he spoke, and even though the only word she understood was 'mademoiselle', she seemed mesmerized by his words. He walked away, leaving her standing there in somewhat of a trance. Coming back to reality, she wondered how he had been able to get to her like that.

Jacob, who'd been watching the two from a distance, had a bad feeling about Shea. He went to Rae's cabin and knocked on the door.

Rae stood from the table strewn with maps and such and crossed the room to the door. She opened it and saw Jacob standing there, looking urgent. "Yes?"

"I'd like to speak with you about Leblanc."

Rae sighed and stepped back for him to enter the cabin. "What about him?"

"I think it would be in our best interest to dispose of him at the next port, when we drop off Mr. Sparrow."

"And why do ye say that?"

"We can't trust him, that's why. I have a bad feeling about him. The way he acts…I don't know exactly, but I feel it."

"Oh Jacob, honestly…"

"You saw him at the Drowsy Parrot, the way he was watching Carly and Jack, and then again just now he was…he was speaking French to Carly," he said, as if that would condemn Shea to death.

"Yes, we should get rid of him immediately, how dare he speak French," Rae replied sarcastically. "He freed us from the brig, and he doesn't like Jack anymore than you or I do. If you like Carly so much then tell her. Get back to work." She pushed him out of the cabin despite his protests and sat back down at the table.

"This isn't about Carly, it's about _him!_" Jacob yelled through the door. He swore, angry that no one would side with him against the Frenchman. He thought for a moment, and then made his way below deck with a mind to free the one man he knew, without a doubt, would be on his side.

-----

"Not long ago I made a bargain with a certain individual to bring me Jack Sparrow's compass in return for a full pardon from the king. I was fortunate enough to have one return to me not with the compass, but with something better – the heart of Davy Jones."

Jones narrowed his eyes at Beckett. "And what purpose does my heart serve you?"

"With your heart I will be able to command you to send the Kraken after all pirates, as well as any other trading companies and ships that I wish. Your heart will be kept safe, and I will benefit greatly."

Jones looked at his men, who knew exactly what he wanted. Beckett had been so busy talking that he didn't even notice the men leave.

-----

Rae sighed, "I'm not quite sure if we can trust Shea or not. Jacob seems to think we can't, but I do believe that to be jealousy. What do you think?" She looked over at the mute who, obviously, didn't say anything.

The bird instead squawked, "Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole."

"You really think so?" she asked. "I don't know."

"What don't you know?" Leblanc came up behind her.

Rae jumped, "Uh, nothing."

**----**

Jones looked expectantly at his men as they returned, until he saw they had arrived empty-handed. He glared at Beckett. "Where is the heart?"

"Safe, in the hands of one of my confidants."

"On your ship?"

Beckett wasn't sure how to answer that. "As a matter of fact, yes."

Jones looked to the elder Turner for an explanation.

"It's not there, sir. Apparently his confidant left with it," Bootstrap said.

Jones narrowed his eyes and glared menacingly at Beckett.

**Author's Note-**   
I don't know if it's taken awhile to update, I can't remember. Anyway, leave a review please. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Overcoming Complications**

_**Chapter Nine**_

_"It certainly has been awhile," Shea Leblanc spoke as he entered Tia Dalma's cabin._

_"Shea..."_

_"That's me."_

_"What be ye needin'?"_

_"I'm glad you asked," his accent made it sound as if his words slurred together._

_Tia sat, waiting patiently for an answer._

_"I'm looking for an old friend," he looked around the room, his eyes gazing at the countless knick-knacks._

_"Sparrow is sort of indisposed, currently."_

_"Oui, but not for long, eh?"_

_Tia looked at him suspiciously before leaning forward._

**---**

"Miss Rae," Shea approached the helm and addressed the captain with urgency.

"Aye," she acknowledged him. She was squinting her eyes from the sun and scanning the horizon.

"We have a new heading. We should sail – "

"A new heading? We haven't any need, I know very well where we're sailing, rest assured that," she said dismissively.

"Yes, but for reasons regarding the well-being of you and your crew, with everyone's best interests in mind, we should be sailing farther east." He indicated the direction with his arm while trying to mask as best he could the frustration in his voice.

Rae shot her eyes at him suspiciously; she was curious as to why he wanted to sail farther out into open water when they had been heading for land. "Why?"

"You don't trust me?" he asked. Rae wondered whether or not that had been a rhetorical question, but figured as much when he continued without her reply. "Have I given you any reason to believe that I'm a threat?"

"Monsieur Leblanc, I appreciate your concern, but I am captain and we shall continue our course as planned."

"If I hadn't helped you then you would still be locked in the brig. It seems that not everyone aboard favors you as captain on this ship."

Rae stared at him for a moment, trying to decipher his intentions, but to no avail. She found it nearly impossible to read his expression and remained uncertain – a feeling she loathed. "Go below deck and check the rum supply, we're likely running low. I suppose we'll have to cut down on the crew's rations until we make port."

Leblanc looked hard at her for a moment. Rae stared back at him with the same intensity, and then watched him disappear below deck. She couldn't push away this newfound feeling of uneasiness she had about the Frenchman. She thought, perhaps, that he might have let something slip to Carly about what his intentions were during one of their little conversations. She looked down the length of the deck until she spotted Carly, apparently in a dispute with Ragetti and Pintel. "Carly!" she called and whistled for her.

Carly glared in Rae's direction and approached the helm after she had gotten the last word in her argument with the pirates. "I assume you're in need of my assistance?" She put her hands on her hips with the same attitude as a child being told to clean up her toys.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am."

"Go on, then."

"Have you learned anything about Leblanc?" Rae asked. She noticed that Carly's demeanor changed at the mention of the pirate, as if she'd suddenly taken an interest in what Rae was saying.

"Leblanc?"

"Aye. Tall, tan, dark hair tied back, an earring or two, kind of dirty looking?" She described him as if Carly had no idea who she was talking about, although they both knew better. "Ye know anything about him?"

"He's French."

"Yes, I knew that much." She lowered her voice a bit so that only Carly could hear her. "I think he might be up to something,"

"He's been on our ship for four days and you're just now becoming suspicious?"

"Listen. He came to me with a new heading, and he hinted that some of the men on this ship may be unhappy…which could be bad news if he's telling the truth."

"That's comforting."

"Which is why since he seems to have taking a liking to _you_ I'm sure you'd be willing to do us all a favor and find out all ye can."

"Well you twisted my arm, so I suppose I'll have to talk to him." Carly didn't exactly mind being forced into talking with the attractive French man, but at the same time a part of her remained wary of him.

"Good. He's below deck, likely helping himself to the rum, which should make your task a bit easier. There's plenty down there, by the way," she added after seeing Carly's look of shock that someone was stealing extra shares of their rum. Rae shooed her below deck and tried her best to put aside some of her own fears about Shea for the time being.

---

Carly made her way through the dim quarters below the ship's deck and came upon Leblanc who was, as Rae predicted, perched on a barrel with a bottle of rum in his hand. He lowered the bottle from his lips after taking a swig and noticed Carly standing before him a few feet away.

"_Ça va_?" he asked kindly.

"_Bien_?" she replied in the form of a question, hoping that one of the few French words she'd picked up would be an acceptable answer to whatever he'd said.

He chuckled, nodding in approval and offering her the bottle of rum. Had it been under different circumstances she would've just taken a second bottle for herself, but she thought it best for at least one of them to remain somewhat sober in order to report back to Rae. She took the bottle from his outstretched hand, drank a sip, and then returned the bottle to him; he may have been a rugged-looking, and possibly deceitful pirate, but he was considerate at least. She found herself sidetracked and decided to get back to business and get what she'd come for. Taking a seat on another barrel beside him, she considered for a moment the best way to go about doing so.

"What are you doing on this ship?" Immediately she regretted blurting out the words. Reading the look on Leblanc's face, she added as a cover-up: "It's just that I thought you would've had your own ship…the captain of one, perhaps." She hoped she sounded convincing.

"If I were a captain then I would not be sitting here under the command of another captain – a woman, no less." He took another swig of rum, not buying in to Carly's tactics for coaxing details out of him.

"You think a woman can't captain a ship as well as a man?" she accused him.

"You're putting words in my mouth, Mademoiselle."

"You implied that women are inferior to men, a popular belief in society but one that I have yet to agree with."

"I see that."

"In any case, Rae is a fine captain. A little lax in her disciplinary actions maybe, but when the men get out of hand she cracks down on them. I admit that if it were me I would be a bit more harsh."

"So you wish to be captain instead?"

"No, on the contrary I have no desire to be captain. Far too much responsibility to keep the crew pleased."

Leblanc inclined his head towards her and raised an eyebrow with a smirk about his face. Carly frowned.

"That is _not _what I mean."

"_Bien sure_."

"What?"

"_Quoi_?"

"Do you do that on purpose just to irritate me or do you honestly not realize that I can't understand half the things you say?" Of course, she would never confess to him that she sometimes liked when he spoke French, even if she didn't understand a word of it.

"What irritates you more: that you can't understand me, or that you can't understand why you're so attracted to me?"

Carly grabbed the bottle away from him angrily and knocked back a mouthful of rum without answering him. He took the bottle back from her once she'd swallowed and kissed her.

**---**

Rae leaned against the railing, looking down at the water. It seemed to her that the water glistened more in the moonlight than it did in the sun.

She sighed to herself, wondering when her carefree life had become one intertwined with this new type of trouble. _Jack Sparrow._

Before finding him, she didn't have a problem in the world.

Rae pulled out her spyglass and looked into the distance. There was land, but it seemed to be getting further and further away. Suddenly she realized - Shea had given her crew a new heading. Her first instinct was to question whoever was at the helm, but when she realized that it was none other than Cotton, she couldn't.

Instead she had a better idea.

---

"Jacob!"

The boy heard his captain's voice behind him and jumped. He had been standing outside the bars of Sparrow's cell and speaking with him. "Aye, sir. I mean, ma'am."

"Ma'am?" she scoffed.

"Captain."

"Much better." It took Rae a moment to realize what her crewmember was up to. "Jacob, could you go find Carly for me? I think she may have wandered off with Monsieur Leblanc."

Jacob's posture stiffened upright when he heard Carly's name mentioned with the Frenchman's, "Aye, Captain Rae." He turned and left the brig to find Carly. Rae thought she'd seen his fists clenched for a moment and his ears starting to turn red.

Jack directed his attention to the female captain while playing with the braids in his beard. "And how is dear Shea?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Rae glared down at him, before kneeling down to his level. "You know him better than I do."

Jack got a little jumpy, "Are you insinuating something? Because I only did that once."

Rae gave him an awkward look, "Just that you two have a history..."

"Ah, yes," he coughed. "That."

"Tell me about it."

"My pleasure..."

---

Jacob held his lamp up and searched the surrounding area, but all he saw were barrels and rum bottles. He stopped suddenly when he heard noises coming from the far side of the room. "Carly?" he called. He heard someone gasp.

"Shh! Stop," someone whispered.

"Why?"

"Someone called my name,"

Jacob listened; the voices sounded like they were coming from behind a couple barrels not too far away, and he took a few steps closer.

"I don't hear them now."

Jacob distinctly recognized a French accent in the man's voice. He listened closer and saw someone's boot being thrown away and then a foot go up in the air for a second from behind the barrels.

"Get your armpit off my face," she whispered.

"Get your face out of my armpit,"

He heard Carly giggle quietly. It was clear to Jacob what was going on even though he couldn't see it. He was furious, and perhaps jealous. He left in a fury and went above deck, having heard enough.

---

"What was her name?" Rae sat intently, leaning against the bars.

"Pearl."

Rae nodded. "And you trusted him..." her face showed disgust. "He took everything from you..."

Jack replaced his somber look with a grin, "But s'okay. All we have to do is let me out and get me precious Pearl back. The _ship_,that is."

Rae stood and pulled her key out, but paused before unlocking the brig, "How do I know you're not lying to me? Tricking me into letting you out."

"Well, _Captain_, if ye ask him yerself he'd likely admit it," the pirate slowly got up off the floor.

She considered this momentarily before unlocking the cell.

"Not to be ungrateful, but what was it that made you believe me, love?"

"I don't. But I trust you more than I trust him."

* * *

**Author's Note-** It's been awhile, I'm sorry. I've been busy and whatnot, and I'm sure Jen has too. Or not. I don't know. My summer starts Monday, which is good because I can write more, but bad because I'll be online less probably. And then I'm going to leave next Sunday for the entire week, but after that, updates should become pretty regular. Hopefully. And this should be done soonish anyway. Hopefully, once again. 


	10. Chapter 10

_**Overcoming Complications - Chapter Ten**_

Leblanc was slouched against a barrel with his legs sprawled out in front of him, his shirt off and a bottle of rum in his hand. Carly sat nearby, admiring the rings on his hand. Her eyes traced the tattoo that ran from his forearm up to his collar bone until the gold hoop earring dangling from his ear caught her eye when he tipped his head back to drink. He swallowed and was about to raise the bottle to his lips again, when he noticed her watching him.

"_Quoi? Encore?_" he asked. Carly shrugged in confusion. "You should speak French, you know. A lot of people in the Caribbean speak French."

"I suppose. I have French perfume, that counts for something."

"Ah. So that's why you smell like a French whore."

Carly narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips, not sure if that was meant to be an insult or not. "I understand the uncontrollable urge you have to brag to the rest of the men about how you just had the best time of your life with me, but I'll have to ask you to resist. I'd rather not have them thinking I'm open for business."

"Which reminds me - how much do I owe you?"

Angry, Carly got to her feet, eying the bottles of rum and wishing she had something less valuable to chuck at his head.

"What? _Quoi? Qu'est ce que j'ai dit? Pourquoi tu est fâchée?" _

"I can't bloody understand you! You stupid French men with your weird throat noises, you're all a bunch of smelly, frog-eating bastards, you know that?"

"Mm-hm. Who was Liam?" he asked, casually.

"What?"

"_Liam_, your tattoo. That's an Irish name, _n'est pas_?"

Carly put her hand to her hip where she had the tattoo, a mermaid sitting on an anchor with Liam's name along the bottom of it. "That's very observant of you."

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" he asked, wondering why she was so taken aback when she knew very well he'd only been inches away from it.

Carly ignored him and took a step towards the doorway, but stopped suddenly when she thought of something. She went back to him, grabbed the bottle of rum from his grasp, and took a couple gulps of it. Then she thrust the bottle at his chest, took his hand and looked over the rings she had been admiring earlier, and stole the one she liked the best off his finger.

Before she had a chance to get very far with the ring, Shea dropped the rum bottle and grabbed her wrist. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Payment," she replied and pulled her wrist from his grip, which he had loosened anyway.

Leblanc's expression hardened and he kept his eyes on her as she turned to leave. "Tell Mademoiselle Rae that I'm very sorry about her ship."

_---_

_Jack looked out over the ocean. He felt so at peace there, more than he could feel anywhere else. A faint smile crossed his lips as he stood there, on his ship. There was no place else he'd rather be._

_He walked back to the Captain's Quarters to rest for a bit. Sparrow was certain his life couldn't get better. There was no way. He just wanted the rest of his life to be just like this._

_Awoken in the middle of the night, he heard something crash. Sparrow wasn't quite sure what it was, but figured he should go check on it. After all, it was his ship. The ship he'd taken a part in building even. His Pearl._

_Jack went out in search of the sound he'd heard. It had come from below deck he was sure. Upon going below deck, he saw that everyone was still dead asleep. But there was an empty cot. He furrowed his brows, trying to think of who could be up._

_Captain Jack shrugged and walked a bit further, back where the rum was stored. Someone else was over there, he just knew it. Then he heard shushing. Two people._

_"Who go there?"_

_That's when someone came into view. Jack's friend Shea Leblanc, wearing only his pants. And even that was barely on._

_Jack looked at him bewildered, "Who's there with you?"_

_There was but one woman on the ship, and she was with Jack. Pearl. The ship had been named for her, but Jack couldn't deny that the most important Pearl to him was, in deed, the ship._

_"Who do you think?" came a female voice._

_Jack was devastated, he didn't understand._

_The woman looked bitter, "All you care about is your ship. It makes me sick. Can't you think about someone besides yourself?"_

_That would have been bad enough, but since Jack was so distracted with the love triangle going on below deck, he didn't even notice when something more serious came along._

_Something life-threatening._

_The Black Pearl was attacked by another pirate ship, and when Jack came to, he awoke on something of a ghost ship. The Flying Dutchman._

_"Do you feel death...?" _

_"Where am I?"_

_"Where do you think?" Jones spat._

_"It's only a legend," replied Jack, looking around._

_"Nay."_

_Jones stared at Jack for a moment._

_"My ship. What happened to my ship?"_

_"Sank."_

_"But..."_

_Jones, seeing how much Jack cared for the ship, offered him a proposition, "What say you to thirteen __years with your precious ship, but once those years are up...you're mine."_

_---_

Shea Leblanc looked back out at the water from his little safety boat. It was so calm.

_The calm before the storm,_ he thought to himself.

He sighed and climbed about the Flying Dutchman where Jones had been waiting, not quite patiently, for him. Upon boarding the Dutchman, he stepped over the body of Beckett.

"Jones," Leblanc called out, "Sparrow is nearby. He's on the Contentious."

Jones turned to face the Frenchman and smiled sinisterly.

---

Carly went above deck to the captain's cabin and banged her fist on the door three times. She let herself in without waiting for a response from Rae and slammed the door shut.

"I hate French men, I really do. Why do we allow suspicious-looking men on your ship?"

"He has that effect on most people," said Sparrow.

"Speaking of suspicious-looking men..." For the first time since she'd entered, Carly looked at the table in the middle of the room. She hadn't noticed at first since she'd been too busy ranting to Rae, but there sat Jack Sparrow and Jacob along with the female captain. Jack sat with his feet up on the table and was looking at Carly with mild interest. Jacob, on the other hand, barely glanced at her and fixed his eyes on the candles burning in the center of the table.

"Did you find out anything of importance?" Rae asked. She had Jack's compass in front of her on the table, which Jack kept anxiously stealing glances at.

"I might have. What's he doing here?" she waved her hand towards Jack, "I thought he was locked up."

"Lucky for you - since you seem to have proved most unhelpful yet again - and fortunately for us, he's been telling us quite a bit about Shea,"

"Oh, well thank god for Mr. Sparrow since I'm _most unhelpful. _I tried to talk to Leblanc, he's a stubborn bastard. I have a limited amount of ladylike charm to work with, my apologies." Carly grit her teeth in anger at Rae. She heard Jacob chuckle and shot dagger eyes at him. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just amusing to hear your excuses," Jacob said. "I suppose _he_ knows where your tattoo is now as well?"

"_You _only know where my tattoo is by accident and under completely different circumstances than him,"

"You have a tattoo?" Rae asked. Jack was looking over Carly curiously, trying to imagine where and what her tattoo was. He twirled one of the braids in his beard around his finger while he contemplated this, and then his eyes reverted back to the compass lying on the table. He saw that Rae was distracted by Carly and Jacob, and took advantage of the opportune moment to reach his hand out towards the compass.

"It sounded like you were enjoying yourself, I hope you had fun fooling around."

"Yep, I did."

"Well...good!" Jacob shouted. He pushed Carly aside and stormed out of the cabin, slamming the door shut behind himself.

"The two of you are replacing that door when it falls off its hinges, the way ye keep slamming it," Rae threatened.

"I don't understand him, he can be such a girl," Carly complained and put her hands on her hips. Jack noticed the new ring on her index finger and knew at once where he'd seen it before.

"Perhaps the lad is jealous that Monsieur Escargot got to - "

"We don't need a visual, thank you," Rae interrupted. "We have more pressing matters at hand than Jacob's feminine tendencies, so if we could deal with them then that would be much appreciated, unless of course you don't mind resigning yourself to Davy Jones' Locker. Aye?" she said to Carly, arching one of her eyebrows. "Firstly," she continued, "Leblanc has, in a sense, commandeered the ship. He probably fed the crew some story about treasure and whatnot, and now we're sailing in open water, which means we can count on running into Davy Jones so long as we're graced by Mr. Sparrow's presence."

"So why don't we un-grace ourselves with Mr. Sparrow's presence?"

"And dump him overboard as fish bait for the Kraken?"

"Does Mr. Sparrow have a say in this?" Jack interjected, but he was ignored by the girls.

"I thought he killed the Kraken, isn't that how he escaped last time?" Carly questioned.

"Doubtful, but either way, what we need to do now is save Jack from serving aboard the Flying Dutchman until he's a slimy, decomposing piece of human mass and..." But her voice was drowned out when they heard a gun fire and the exploding sound of a cannon shot bursting through the side of the Contentious. There was a brief pause, and then they were hit again, this time closer to the cabin. Rae and Jack jumped from their seats and ran to the door, following Carly, who was cursing like Jack had never heard a lady curse before.

Most of the crew had already come above deck to see what was going on, all of them wide awake now, even after being woken up from their beauty sleep. Rae's stomach did a flip; she could see a ship very near and sitting parallel to hers. Her fears were confirmed when Elizabeth yelled, "It's the Flying Dutchman!"

Will put his hand to his belt where he kept his knife - the knife his father had given to him. He stepped up onto the ledge on the side of the ship, gripping a rope for support, and scanned the deck of the Flying Dutchman.

"Your time is up, Sparrow!" Jones shouted. Jack hid behind Carly and held her firmly in place by the shoulders in front of him, ducking down to her height. "Let us settle this debt of yours once and for all, you've escaped twice and I will not wait any longer!"

Jack poked his head up over Carly's shoulder. "Actually I only escaped once, because the first time you gave me three days to - "

"We're not handing him over," Rae spoke, "Jack is neither dead nor dying and therefore has no place on your ship."

"Jack made a deal, my lady, and therefore has a debt to pay! You would protect a man that makes a deal and then fails to hold up his end of the bargain, a man who hides and risks others' lives when the time has come to pay his debt?"

"Even so, I won't condemn him to a lifetime of servitude aboard your rotting ship,"

Jones laughed - a sound that made Jack cringe - and then addressed Rae once more. "I'm sorry you feel that way. Perhaps you'll have a change of heart?"

Rae saw him turn to his crew, but she could not hear what he was ordering them to do. "Load the cannons," she said to her men. Seconds later there was a loud crunching sound from beneath them and the ship shook as if they'd hit a reef. Jack's eyes grew wide, while Ragetti and Pintel argued hysterically.

"The Kraken! Told you it was comin' back fer us!" they yelled at Carly.

"Forget the cannons, grab your swords, axes, whatever you can find!" Elizabeth shouted. Carly grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out of the way when out of nowhere one of the Kraken's tentacles swung down and knocked into two of the ship's lamps, breaking them and catching the deck on fire. Elizabeth looked around and saw that Will had vanished. "Will...Will!"

---

Will had rowed away from the Contentious in one of the boats and was now climbing up the side of the Flying Dutchman, having missed the Kraken's attack by seconds. He quietly stepped foot on the deck of Jones' ship, unnoticed by the crew. Seeing that Jones and Leblanc were watching the action on the Contentious intently, he crept farther away from Jones, his father's knife in his hand, and was about to go below deck to the brig, when he was snatched by two of Jones' deformed crewmen. They dragged him to their captain with grins on their faces.

"Look who decided to join us,"

"Ah, Mr. Turner," Jones chuckled. "How fortunate that you've abandoned ship and escaped the wrath of the Kraken." Will struggled against his captors, but it only made them strengthen their grip and twist his arms tighter behind his back. Jones narrowed his eyes at Will with almost a smile on his lips, and then looked at his men. "Hold him there, he will watch his fiancée perish."

---

"Where do you think you're going?" Carly shouted at Jack. She had caught him fiddling around with one of the boats, likely attempting to get away.

"Well it seems that you've all got this Kraken thing under control, so I was just getting out of your way," he glanced around at the giant tentacles flying wildly around everywhere and the people shouting and scurrying about. Jack ducked when one of the Kraken's tentacles swung near them. Carly hacked at it with an ax, but it was useless, and the creature's tentacle retreated, taking her ax with it. When the slimy thing swung down again, Jack chopped at it a few times with no success and swore at it for squirming so much, then he finally cut a big gouge in it with his sword. Carly looked desperately around for another weapon, and then somebody grabbed hold of her arm.

"Jacob," she said, sounding half surprised and half relieved. They both looked up when the Kraken wrapped one of its tentacles around the mast. It snapped the mast in two and let go, allowing the mast to fall. Jacob pulled Carly by the arm and pulled her away, but she yelled when she saw that Jack was still trying to lower one of the boats. "Jack, look out!"

Jack turned his head and saw the mast, but it was too late. It fell on him, crushing the boat he had been attempting to escape in and pinning him between the fallen mast and the shards of wood. He could feel the giant splinters that pierced his stomach and chest, and he felt pain through his ribs and back. He was unable to move or breathe, even though he tried.

---

Davy Jones turned away from his men after commanding them to hold Will hostage so he could watch the Kraken destroy Rae's ship, and Elizabeth with it. When he looked back at the ship, Jack was no where to be seen. His eyes flashed fiercely, fearing that Jack had escaped once again.

"_Où est-il_?" Leblanc wondered aloud, thinking the same thing. Jones glared at him and grabbed him by the throat with his claw-hand.

"It seems that you have failed to hold up your end of the bargain," he growled. "Kill him," he said to his crew.

---

Jack looked up when a boot and a peg-leg appeared in front of him. He heard Jones laugh, sounding very satisfied with the situation, and watched him kneel down closer to Jack's eye level. He held up Jack's chin with his claw, waited while Jack attempted to focus his eyes on the face before him, and then posed a question to him in a low voice.

"Do you feel death, Jack Sparrow?" he asked slowly, stressing each word and smirking. Jack couldn't respond, but they both knew what the answer was.

---

Jones threw Jack down on the deck of the Dutchman and was greeted by cheers from his crew. Will was shocked when he saw the state that Jack was in, covered in blood and wood splinters and slumped weakly on the deck.

Jones looked proudly upon the Contentious, knowing that any second now the Kraken would swallow the entire ship and its surviving crew whole. He smiled as the Kraken began to raise up all of its tentacles around the ship.  
"Stop," an unfamiliar voice commanded. Jones whipped his head around to see James Norrington standing there, holding the heart.


End file.
